FILE - This July 1, 2014, file photo shows the Hound Dog II, one of two jets once owned by late singer Elvis Presley on display at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II, will be moved from Graceland to a location down the street under a plan approved Tuesday, April 21, 2015, by the Memphis City Council. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz, File)
April 21, 2015 - 7:40 PM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Two airplanes once owned by Elvis Presley, the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II, will be moved from Graceland to a location down the street under a plan approved by the Memphis City Council Tuesday.
The unanimous vote by the 13-member Council comes after a Shelby County land use board signed off on a proposal by the planes' current owners, OKC Partnership, to place the aircraft on a lot just steps from the Graceland tourist attraction.
The planes will be part of an outdoor display and museum for tourists to visit. The goal is for construction on the lot to be finished in time for the planes to be moved to their new location for Elvis Week in August, said Tim McCaskill, who represented OKC Partnership in its dealings with the city.
The planes have been situated at Graceland since the mid-1980s, and they are a popular tourist draw. They had been sold after Presley's death and were eventually purchased by OKC Partnership in Memphis.
OKC Partnership and Graceland agreed to bring the planes to the singer's home. Their agreement called for OKC Partnership to receive a cut of ticket sales in return for keeping the planes there.
In an April 7, 2014, letter to OKC Partnership, Elvis Presley Enterprises said the company was exercising its option to end the agreement and asked OKC "to make arrangements for the removal of the airplanes and the restoration of the site on or shortly after April 26, 2015."
News from © The Associated Press, 2015